Left Behind, Revisited
by maxgofish
Summary: S3. J/K. Two-shot. What if Kate and Jack were cuffed together in the episode, "Left Behind," instead of Kate and Juliet? Angst, drama, and romance ensue...
1. Chapter 1

_This is a two-shot story I started working on. Basically, the premise is Kate and Jack cuffed together in "Left Behind" instead of she and Juliet. It pretty much takes what we learned in that episode and others following it and turns the spotlight and interactions on Jack and Kate. The next installment will come shortly! Even shorter, if you review! Enjoy. _

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When Jack came to, the first thing he saw was Kate's dirt-smudged face hovering over him

When Jack came to, the first thing he saw was Kate's dirt-smudged face hovering over him.

With a start he fumbled backwards a few feet, eyes catching on the glint of a switchblade held tight in Kate's hands.

"What's—what's going on?" he slurred, finding his tongue moving slower than natural, and his eyes still foggy at the edges.

"You tell me." She said breathlessly, waving her handcuffed wrist in his eye line and he found, as the tug reached his own wrist, that they were cuffed together.

"What the hell--"

"Yeah. I know. I'm trying to get them off."

Jack sat up slowly, watching Kate attempt to pick the lock with an ease he shouldn't have been surprise by.

"Where'd you get the knife?"

She glanced up, trying to find an accusation in his eyes, then answered matter-of-factly, "Your pocket."

He paused, shaking his head. "Right, I forgot."

"They let you keep one on you?" She asked distractedly, refocusing on the cuffs.

"They trusted me."

"Why would they do that?"

Jack yanked his cuff away from hers, forcing her to meet his eyes, dark, wounded, and unreadable.

"Because they owed me, Kate." He tore his eyes away from hers, then creaked and wobbled into a standing position, forcing her to do the same. "The knife won't work anyway. Too big."

Jack glanced around, the expanse of jungle beneath and around him just as nondescript as the rest he'd spent months among.

"You're still here." Kate said softly, and he turned, eyebrows knitting together.

"You're not off the island." She clarified, even more softly.

He looked at his shoes, mastering himself, before looking up and around again. "I know."

"They left you." She sounded contrite, but he laughed harshly.

"They left you, too."

Her eyes shot up to his, but he looked away, rubbing at his cuffed wrist, already turning raw.

"And they left us together."

"Why?" Kate asked.

Jack shook his head. "Hell if I know."

"Did they gas you, too?"

"Yeah, through the window at the house."

Kate nodded, wiping the sweat from above her eyebrow, sending a streak of dirt farther along her forehead. "Locke came to say goodbye. Then I saw them through the window, all packed up and leaving."

"All of them?" Jack asked, trying his best not to sound too interested.

"I didn't see if the blonde woman was with them, if that's what you're asking." Kate sounded slightly disgusted and started walking, but when Jack didn't move with her, her handcuff dug into her wrist and he tugged her back.

"Where are you going?" He asked, not bothering to explain his interest in Juliet's whereabouts.

"Back to where they live. Sayid could still be there, who knows. I don't want to lose the trail when it gets dark." Kate answered perfunctorily and began moving again, only to find herself tugged back towards Jack, harder this time.

"It might not be safe to go back, Kate." He said evenly.

She gave him a hard look. "So we just leave him behind?"

Jack met her eyes a moment and wanted to be selfish, answer _yes_, but only sighed, taking a step forwards. "Okay, let's go."

Kate waited a moment, wondering if he'd change his mind, before taking a hesitant step forward, giving him the chance to follow.

It'd started raining a half an hour into the trek and hadn't let up. Only some of the rain managed to make it through the thick leaves of the tree they were squatting under, leaving them wet, but not drenched. Jack could feel the heat coming off Kate's arm and onto his from where they were pressed together side-by-side, backs against the tree's trunk.

They hadn't spoken. Jack had merely nodded at Kate's suggestion to take shelter beneath the tree until the rain let up. But the twilight had turned to night and they had both silently agreed to settle in until morning.

Jack was still lost in his thoughts, brooding, when he felt a shiver—not his own—run up his arm. He looked over at Kate, whose lips were a tad purple.

"Cold?" He asked quietly, not loud enough to make it over the din of the rain on the leaves.

"Cold?" He asked again, louder, and she looked over at him, a look he couldn't quite place shifting over her face before she bit her lip and shook her head vehemently.

"No, I'm fine."

"Kate." He pressed, his tone telling her quite obviously that he didn't believe her.

She laughed, looking his white t-shirt and jeans up and down pointedly, "What are you going to do, lend me your varsity jacket?"

Jack smirked and shook his head, quiet for a moment before making to lift his right arm around her shoulders, but the jangle of the cuffs stopped him.

Kate wiggled her wrist to remind him. "Nice thought, but it's not going to work. The cuffs make it pretty much impossible."

"You seem to know a lot about handcuffs." Jack mumbled, before he could even stop the words from flying off his lips.

Kate's eyes shot to his, but she removed the hurt from them in an instant, settling them back on her lap.

"Sorry." He mumbled, but Kate shook her head quickly.

"No, I deserve that."

"Kate—"

"I'm the reason you didn't get off this island. If I hadn't come to—"

Jack put his free hand up to stop her. "I shouldn't have trusted them." He tried, shaking his head and looking away.

She was quiet for a long moment, lifting her right hand to wipe the runaway rainwater away form her eyes. "That's my fault, too."

Jack didn't answer, choosing not to try and make her feel better this time. He didn't look at her for another twenty minutes, staying quiet, until she sniffled twice and then shivered against him again.

"If you want, to keep warm, you could just…kind of curl inward, towards me, I could keep you warm that way."

Kate looked like a deer caught in the headlights, eyes shifting over his. "What?"

He backtracked, flushing. "No, I mean, just if you move in front of me, sitting between my knees, the cuffs wouldn't get in the way. I could keep you warm."

Kate looked doubtful, like she might laugh. "You're serious."

With his free hand, Jack rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Your lips were turning purple. It was just an idea."

Kate didn't answer, waiting a long moment before moving towards him, making his eyes shoot up, but she carefully avoided them as she settled between his knees, which he propped up and made room between so she could perch within them.

Jack's free arm fluttered at her side, their cuffed hands between them and unsure.

"Okay…" Kate mumbled, trying to get comfortable.

"Here," Jack offered, good arm turning her towards him until her whole side was nestled into the length of his torso, their connected wrists and hands pressed between them awkwardly while Kate shifted into a comfortable position.

"This can't be comfortable for you." Kate mumbled, cheek pressed against his chest, which—she had to admit—was warm, despite the jungle rain.

Jack laughed, the rumble vibrating into Kate's ear and making her smile. "I'm fine. Are you warmer?"

Kate sighed, eyes fluttering closed. "Yeah, I'm getting there."

This time, when Jack came to, Kate was just where he'd left her, perched safely—and snuggly—within his arms. At first, he wanted to wake her, tell her that they she should get moving, but with one look at how at rest she seemed, her forehead smoothed out, mouth pouted in sleep, he was content to simply watch her.

She mumbled wordlessly and snuggled deeper into his chest, making his cheeks heat. The rain had cleared but had left the sky overcast and air chillier. His cuffed hand was asleep, tucked into his chest along side hers. Her free hand, which had been resting on the opposite side of his chest, clutched at his shirt.

Jack watched her eyebrows knit. "Jack." She mumbled, fingers flexing and unflexing on the fabric of his muddy t-shirt.

He looked down at her, craning his neck to try and get a better glimpse at her eyes to see if she'd woken. Seeing she hadn't, he waited, holding his breath, for any other word that might escape.

"Don't." She mumbled, making Jack's forehead crease in worry.

"Jack." She said again, more persistently, then shot awake, nearly jumping out of his arms. But the wrist that remained cuffed to hers pulled and she turned to look at him sharply.

"Kate?" He asked carefully, seeing the wild look in her eyes.

She swallowed hard, then shook her head, running her free hand absently through her hair.

"Sorry. I'm fine."

She moved and settled beside him again, and he instantly missed the warmth against his chest, the little puff of air that created just the little patch of coolness against his t-shirt and through it to his skin.

"Bad dream?" He tried.

She held her head in her hands, rubbing at her forehead, roughly. "It was nothing."

"You said my name."

Kate shot him a look. "It was just a bad dream."

"You sounded upset."

Kate didn't answer.

"Was I hurting you?" Jack said softly, eyes concerned as he reached out to touch her hand.

"You weren't the monster." Kate said evenly, pulling away and quieting, not wishing to continue explaining. Jack stopped a moment, before he laughed harshly, scoffing, and she shot him a look.

"Do you have to hide _everything?_" He asked, only half serious.

Kate didn't laugh. "Do you have to _pry_ into _everything?_" She shot, wiping the smirk off Jack's face.

"I wasn't prying."

She snorted. "Uh-huh."

"I wasn't."

She put her hands up, goading him. "Fine. I wasn't hiding anything."

Jack clenched his jaw, frowning, choosing not to say anything. "Here." He said blandly, handing her a mango from where it'd been stashed on his opposite side.

Kate took it, turning it over as if foreign. "Where'd you get this?"

Jack laughed. "Well, I didn't climb for it. It fell from the tree last night."

"Onto your head?" Kate joked.

"Ha. Ha." Jack replied, feigning offense, but grinning.

"Did you eat yet?" Kate asked, digging her thumbnails into the skin of the mango and breaking the surface, juice starting to escape.

"My hands were kind of full before. This one just kind of rolled over to me."

Kate blushed and ducked her head at the subtle mention of their previous sleeping arrangements.

"Yeah, thanks for last night."

Jack eyed her from the side for a moment, gauging the sincerity of her gratitude. "Don't mention it. Kept me warm too anyhow."

Kate nodded, "I'll split it with you. Since you found it."

He laughed. "How generous of you."

She shrugged. "Even fugitives have hearts, I suppose. That and in-depth knowledge of handcuff operation." She winked, nudging him playfully, showing him she didn't hold a grudge over his comment the night before.

They ate quietly, not uncomfortably, and then agreed to keep moving.

"So what have you been doing this whole time, with Them?" Kate tried, after a long forty minutes of quiet, minus the few directions she'd given after picking up the watered down trail.

Jack shrugged. "Kept my head low. Tried not to make any waves."

She smiled ruefully. "If that's what it took, I guess I wouldn't have made it a day."

He didn't laugh. "If that's what it took to what?"

She shook her head. "Sorry?"

"You said you wouldn't have made it if that's what it took. Took to do what?"

She shrugged nervously, not meeting his eyes, finding them far too accusatory to meet them dead on.

"I don't know, to get off the island, I didn't mean anything—"

"That's not what got me off the island, Kate," Jack started, voice turning biting, "doing the surgery was _going_ to get me off the island."

"Jack, I didn't mean—"

"Forget it. I know what you meant."

"Jack." Kate tried, stopping, but when his stride didn't slow, she had to move with him

"Look, I'm sorry I came. I'm sorry you're stuck here. If I had known that I would have _ruined_ your chances to leave I would have stayed put. But I thought I was helping, I thought you needed me to save you. I _wanted _to save you." Kate finished breathlessly, willing Jack to stop, to turn around, to tell her he forgave her.

She watched the muscles beneath his thin t-shirt flex and then settle.

"Let's just keep going. I promised Juliet we would get off this island together."

Kate stopped again, firmer this time. "You promised her _what_?"

He rounded on her, making her cower a little beneath him. "I promised her that she and I would get off this island. And I'm _not_ going to betray her. I don't do that."

"What, and I do?"

Jack stared at her a long moment before shaking his head and turning around, but she tugged on his cuffed wrist, the metal digging painfully into hers, but he stopped.

"What are you even trying to say?"

"They had cameras on the cages, Kate." He said in a rush of words and air, not bothering to turn and face her. He felt the tension on the cuffs go a little slack.

"What?"

"You and Sawyer. I saw you, after. And I don't even…I don't even _care_. I have no reason to. I just thought you were better than that."

Kate took a step towards him.

"Jack—"

He turned slowly to look at her and she could see the hardened shell over his eyes, one that was becoming increasingly familiar when she looked at him.

"Just don't." He bit out, voice low and sharp.

"I didn't…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you. I never—" She swallowed hard, forcing the tears to stay at bay while she got this out. She didn't want to cry in front of him, didn't want his sympathy or pity, not even his forgiveness, just a chance to explain.

Jack's jaw clenched. "Don't explain to me, Kate."

"I'm just trying to—"

"You can't apologize!" He shouted, making her flinch. "It's over. It's finished. You can't fix it." He said more softly, looking at her harshly before yanking his wrist and moving forward.

Kate skulked behind him, quiet for a long while. An hour in, a familiar howl shot through the jungle, followed closely by the sounds of trees being uprooted left and right. They both stopped in their tracks, eyeing the surrounding trees.

They heard the howl get louder, nearer, before Jack shouted, "Run!"

Jack crashed through the underbrush, Kate close behind, arm getting tugged along hard by his longer, quicker stride. They sprinted for ten minutes straight before diving into a bracket of bamboo, brush, and reeds.

Jack squeezed in close, pulling Kate to him so that her head was buried beneath his neck and his free arm came around her back, tugging her close.

"Jack—" she started, but he stopped her with a gentle hand to her arm.

"Shh."

He could still make out the low, inhuman growl of whatever had been chasing them. He could feel the cold creep in around the bracket, where he knew it was circling.

"Jack." Kate whispered in fear, voice breaking. He ran his hand up her arm, settling her.

"It's okay, but you've got to be quiet." He whispered into her hair, and he felt her nudge closer into him. He could feel the clamminess of her skin, could feel the hair on her arm prick up, just as his did.

In another minute the thing, whatever it was, had shot off and away as quickly as it had come.

"Is it gone?" Kate mumbled into Jack's chest, and with a jolt, he pushed her away, remembering who they were, where they were, remembering that she was not his to hold so closely.

She looked hurt, but guarded her eyes.

"Yeah, it's gone. Let's get going."

"W-well, wait. Hang on a sec." She started, tugging on her cuff, "Shouldn't we wait a little while to make sure it's really gone?"

Jack sighed. "Yeah. I guess."

Kate swallowed. "I won't talk, I promise."

Jack smirked, looking back at her. "You promise, huh?"

She tried a smile, nodding, making the motion to zip her lips and throw away the key.

He laughed. "I'm still mad, you know. You can't just make it all better by making me laugh."

"It's a start though, isn't it?"

Jack pointed towards her, "You talked."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm trying, Jack."

He hardened, the moment gone. "You can't fix this, Kate."

"It didn't mean anything, I was confused! I didn't mean to…" She shouted then trailed off, waving her hands about absently, frustrated.

"It was a mistake. A stupid mistake." She said softly, moving towards him. But he put his hand, stopping her.

"I can't do this right now."

"Jack—"

"With Sawyer, Kate? Sawyer, of all people. You had _sex_ with Sawyer. That isn't just a mistake, Kate, that's a catastrophe. A fucking _mess_."

Kate could feel the tears starting to well up. "I was scared. I though he was going to die and I panicked and I didn't know what to do."

"Save it."

Kate let out a half-silent sob, trying her best to turn away while her cuff still remained latched to his. In a flurry of emotion she rounded on him.

"I shouldn't have to even apologize, _Jack_. We were never—you don't own me, this whole who-wins game between you and Sawyer is pathetic. And it's not like you and me were ever together. I don't owe you anything." Kate spat, tears still coursing down her face.

"You _don't_ owe me anything, Kate. So go fuck whoever you want, I don't care."

She laughed harshly. "God, I'm sorry I'm not as _perfect_ as you are. Sometimes people aren't _perfect_, Jack. I know that's hard for you to believe coming from your _perfect _world and _perfect _family—"

He turned on her, gripping her shoulders. "You don't know anything about me."

She quieted, shaking her head. "You're right. I thought I did, but you're right. I don't know a thing about you anymore.

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_Part two coming soon. Please review and let me know what you think, and also how I should leave it at the end. I'm not sure how far I want them to get with each other, if I want to go AU or stay on course with Season 3. Thanks!  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_So here's part two! Thanks to everyone and all their lovely reviews! So, so encouraging! As much as I'd love to continue this story, I really intended it only as a two-shot and I'm really excited to get started on my next long-term fic. More details on that after the jump. Enjoy! _

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"So what happens if we do get back to camp

"So what happens if we _do_ get back to camp?" Kate asked. It'd been over an hour since their spat and each had shrunk away from the other, as much as their bound wrists would allow.

They'd been walking for an hour before Kate broke the silence, and now that she'd asked Jack wasn't sure what to tell her.

"Well, we find Sayid and figure out what the hell's going on."

"What about getting off the island?" Kate asked softly, trying to gauge Jack's reaction by his eyes, but his were trained steadily on the ground.

"What about it?" He answered softly, and Kate could tell she was forcing him to think about things he did not want to think about.

"I mean, what about the Others? You said Ben _promised_—"

"Yeah, he did promise."

"Then maybe you can still get off the island some other way."

"Locke blew up the sub, Kate. And according to Ben, that was my only ride off this island."

Kate nodded seriously, thinking hard while trying to keep up with Jack's longer strides.

"What about Juliet?" She asked meekly, trying to sound off-hand while trudging along at Jack's side.

But Jack stopped, his cuff automatically yanking her to a stop beside him.

"What do you have against her, Kate?"

She opened her mouth to tell him that she had nothing against Juliet, nothing at all, but snapped it shut when she realized she _did _have a reason to dislike her.

"She put a gun to my head, for starters."

She could feel the air change between them and Jack stiffen at her side. His free hand found his hip and his weight shifted between feet.

"She's not one of them." He reasoned, but Kate only laughed harshly.

"Well she isn't one of us."

He shot her a hard look. "She wants to get off this island just as badly as we do."

Kate shook her head, "I don't know why you're defending her or how she made you believe—"

"I do believe her."

Kate bit her lip. "You like her, don't you?" She was only barely asking, instead it came out like a statement more than Kate had intended it to.

Jack shifted his feet again, not meeting her eyes. "What's it matter?"

She felt the breath lodge deep in her chest and realized that it _shouldn't _matter. That Jack wasn't hers to monitor, to herd affections from. She cleared her throat, subconsciously itching at the raw skin around her cuffed wrist.

"It doesn't." She bit out, starting to walk forward again, but Jack caught her arm, turning her towards him and letting his fingers trail down to her wrist, red, scraped and raw from the too tight metal cuffs.

"Why didn't you tell me it was bothering you?" Jack asked distractedly, taking a closer look at her skin. He held her hand delicately while he examined her and she felt herself involuntarily shiver, making him look up an eye her.

"Are you okay?" He asked slowly, looking up at her from beneath his creased eyebrows. She shook her hand free from his, snatching it back.

"I'm fine. It's not bothering me."

Jack frowned. "Let me find some aloe, you could use it. It's getting pretty nasty."

Kate tried to laugh it off. "I'm fine. I rather find some mangoes than aloe. I can _eat _mangoes."

Jack quirked a lopsided smile involuntarily. "Let's find both."

After another half and hour they'd found a small brook, babbling fresh water that was cool and enclosed by a hood of tall towering trees. They settled beneath one, their backs to the trunk just as they'd been the night before. Kate broke open the skin on a mango and took a large bite, juice dribbling onto her fingers and chin.

Jack broke open a thick aloe leaf, pressing the skin until the gel-like aloe oozed out. He scooped up a glob with his finger and proffered it towards her wrist.

"Let's have it."

Kate rolled her eyes. "It's really fine."

"I'm the doctor. I'll tell you if it's fine."

He took her wrist gently and rubbed the aloe smooth over the red skin, making her flinch at first, but he held her hand firm.

He squeezed out a bit more of the aloe and rubbed it into small soothing circles over the skin and she began to feel the slow burn of tingles breaking out over the cracked, scraped skin, cooling it and patching it up. She let her mango rest in her lap, forgetting it a moment as she reveled in the soothing feeling.

"How's that?" Jack asked softly, then—to Kate's surprise—leaned closer and blew lightly on the skin, drying the aloe and making her arms break out into goose bumps.

"Good." She croaked, voice cracking and making Jack eye her curiously, a look in his eyes that Kate hadn't seen in months, like he was only seeing her as she was in that moment, not the moment before or the things she'd done, who'd she'd been with, or the secrets she kept, he only saw her there: with a cut and raw wrist, mango juice making her lips glossy and wet, her hair dirty and knotty, and her face dirt streaked, eyes wide and knowing he might kiss her. And that she might want him to.

"Jack." Kate said softly, making his gaze focus in intently on hers, his eyes darkening. "I never meant to hurt you."

Jack didn't blink, as if he hadn't heard her at all. His eyes flicked downwards to her mouth and back up, his mouth hanging open a bit to breathe, his eyes turning a shade darker until the subtle hint of hazel had all but vanished to black.

"Jack." She said again, even softer, and then his lips were on hers, soft but insistent, until her own lips parted on their own accord and allowed her tongue to receive his, at once searching, unrelenting as it tangled with hers. She let a sight escape into his mouth as she used her free hand to find the soft hairs on the nape of his neck and pull him closer. His own cuff-free hand curled around her back and slide down until it rested right above her belt.

She heard herself gasp when Jack dove even deeper into her mouth, tongue almost harsh against the roof of her mouth, then heard him allow a little groan to escape his throat as her hand trailed down from his neck and settled on his chest.

Her lungs protested for more air and she pulled away, heaving just as Jack's own chest was heaving, just like the day in the clearing when she'd kissed him first.

"You…" Kate started breathlessly, eyes questioning but not angry.

Jack shook his head, catching his breath. "I shouldn't have done that."

Kate's breath caught. "What?" She nearly shouted.

His hand smoothed over the brush of hair on his head. "Kate—"

"Jack, don't. I get it." She interrupted, sounding resigned. _This is what I get_, she thought, _this is what I deserve. You can only play the game for so long before someone learns your tricks and sends them back your way._

"It's not that simple. I can't just go back to the way things—"

Kate shook her head, raising a hand to stop him. "You don't want me, fine. But let's stop doing this to each other. Let's make up our minds."

Jack stared at her, eyes hard. "So now that it's convenient for you, you want to make ultimatums."

She didn't say anything at first, caught, knowing he was right, _hating_ that he was right. She tucked a loose curl behind her ear and shut her eyes tight.

"Fine. Maybe you're right, maybe it's unfair for me to say that _now_, but it doesn't make it any less true."

Jack hesitated for a moment. "You know I…I always thought it was gonna be you and me, you know? From the beginning, I knew there was _something…_" Jack trailed, eyes trained on his scuffed boots, instead of the hope in her eyes that would make him change his mind.

"But now?" She encouraged softly, waiting for the fallout or the euphoria, either one so fitting, either one interchangeable with the other at this point. In this push-pull they set loose between them.

"But now," Jack sighed, fingering his shoelaces, "I don't know."

Kate scooted closer to him, willing him to meet her eyes. "People make mistakes, Jack."

He huffed a laugh, still picking at his boots, and shook his head, bemused. "I know."

She nudged him with her shoulder, making him look at her from the corner of his eyes.

"So you once told me we all deserve a second chance on this island. How about a…fifth chance, tenth chance, I don't even know how many I've blown…" Kate laughed ruefully, ducking her head, but swallowing hard. Knowing he didn't have to keep forgiving her, that she didn't deserve. That maybe they were too different, too alone, too hurtful to really be together, to really be something more than two players in the same act they staged, day in, day out.

Jack sat back against the wide trunk of the tree, sighing deep in his chest and letting it blow out slow.

"I just need some time…to process…all this." He motioned awkwardly in front of him and she nodded enthusiastically, eager to accommodate him, to do anything to set things right.

"Not too long, right?" She tried, joking, and smiling sheepishly. He smiled back, eyebrows tilting up.

"No, not too long."

She watched him a moment longer, before nodding once. "Good, because I have this idea. For you and me to do. When we get back to the beach I mean."

Jack laughed. "Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I'm thinking a golf rematch. I'll even give myself a handicap if you want. You're probably a little rusty." She teased, making Jack chuckle.

"Will you? I could use the help. Maybe I'll even use the lady's tee, since you never do."

Kate shrugged. "It would only make my lead that much greater. I couldn't do that to you. That'd just be embarrassing."

Jack laughed again and Kate recalled just how much she'd missed the sound of it, the weight it seemed to remove from his shoulders, if only for that brief instant.

"Kate," Jack started softly, seriousness crossing his face and making her eye him. "What about Sawyer?" He asked, eyes looking so vulnerable that Kate hated herself even more for what she'd done, how she'd broken down his trust so soundly.

She shook her head vehemently. "We're not…he and I aren't anything. It was a mistake. That's it."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded again, confident. "I'm sure. He's not—he and I aren't supposed to be together. He's one of my closest friends on this island, and I'm not sure that will change, but that's all we'll ever be, all we're supposed to be. Friends."

Jack seemed to consider this for a long moment, eyebrows knit together and forehead wrinkled in concentration and Kate had to sit on her free hand to stop herself from running a fingertip over the lines there, smoothing away the worry in his brow.

"Okay." He said finally, looking up at her as if it was just that easy, that he could forgive and forget and move on like all the self-help books she'd ever read had instructed her to do.

"Just like that?"

He laughed. "I don't know if you…I don't know if you know this, if you didn't figure this out already, but I—I care about you, Kate. More than anyone on this island. And I guess it'd be pretty stupid to waste a chance with you because I'm too stuck on hating Sawyer, dwelling on the _idea_ of him, when you've promised me that you're not."

Kate's eyes widened a little, but she tried to mask her surprise at Jack's openness and sincerity. She scooted closer and quirked an eyebrow.

"You gonna kiss me again?" She dared, voice low and welcoming and Jack had to bite his lip to stop himself.

He shook his head, eyeing her hungrily. "Not yet."

She frowned. "Right, time. I forgot."

He laughed, rubbing a hand over his head. Kate eyed him, biting her lip and laying a gentle hand on his arm.

"I care about you too, Jack. More than anyone on this island." Kate said softly, making him look up at her and look deep through to her eyes, considering her sincerity, weighing the validity of her words. He lifted his hands and tweaked her nose, making her smile and her freckles dance.

"C'mon, let's get back to camp and get these cuffs off."

Kate shrugged. "Maybe these cuffs were the best things to happen to us…" She thought out loud while Jack stood, leaning down and taking her hands and pulling her up to a standing position.

He laughed, considering this. "Maybe we should keep them after they're off. What do you think?"

Kate grinned. "Kinky."

He rolled his eyes, feigning horror. "Kate." He said pointedly.

She blushed. "Sorry."

They started walking again, the outline of the Barracks coming into view over a hill and thicket of trees.

"How's your wrist?" Jack asked, taking it in his hands and looking it over, and then surreptitiously and slowly intertwining their fingers, letting their hands fall back between them, linked in more ways than one this time.

She looked at the picture their conjoined hands made and smiled, looking up and blinking against the afternoon sun. She nudged him with her shoulder and squeezed his hand.

"Better."

THE END

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_So that's that! I hope you enjoyed the little burst of angst and romance that the story was. I tried to make it happy at the end, but not too contrived. I guess I just needed some JATE happiness for once in my life. So here's my next story, a continuing AU Jate piece: _

After Jack saves a young waitress--Kate--from his drunken father's advances at the family country club, he finds healing from a painful divorce, but are her motives pure? Her past as spotless as she makes it seem? She's got secrets, but she's not a fugitive, and he's not perfect either.

_Please review! _


End file.
